


Episode 1 - A Flood of Fangs

by The Pale Time Lady (HollySinclaire)



Series: The Twenty-First Doctor Adventures Series One [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollySinclaire/pseuds/The%20Pale%20Time%20Lady
Summary: 'A friendship is born when Ivy Pierce meets a mysterious woman who calls herself the Doctor, a woman atoning for past mistakes, determined to prove herself once more. She's had many lives, and even more adventures, but now she's earth-bound and answering the call to adventure with Ivy, an adventure that'll take her across the world.'The 21st Doctor Adventures is a series of stories about a future incarnation of the Doctor, written for audiences who are well versed in Whovian lore - join the 21st Doctor in her travels through time and space!
Series: The Twenty-First Doctor Adventures Series One [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669294
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A daydreaming writer.  
> An impossible woman.  
> An interwoven destiny just beginning.
> 
> A Flood of Fangs Chapter 1

Light was pouring through the half-closed blinds and into Ivy’s room as she threw another story draft into the bin. She’d been up all night again, late had turned into early and dawn was greeting her town, and what did she have to show for it but a bin full of crumpled up bits of paper. She’d spent the night drafting and re-drafting the first chapter of her story. She’d wanted to be an author ever since she learned how to read, but try as she might, she couldn’t get anything going. Everyone told her she should give up but this was her calling, her imagination teemed with such ideas but she just couldn’t organise them well enough to write anything remotely coherent.

Ivy sighed and got up from her writing desk, kicking her bin across the room in frustration. She needed a walk, she decided; she needed to get out of this dusty room. Being careful not to wake her still sleeping mother, she crept down the stairs and through the hallway, stepping through the front door and into the cool early morning air.

Damline was mostly empty, as it usually was - not exactly a bustling metropolis, just a small seaside town with hardly anything of note except a rocky beach. Walking down the street towards the seaside path, she could hear the waves crashing softly against the stones, seagulls and birds singing and the occasional car driving to work for an early shift. Ivy didn’t really mind living in a remote place like this, quiet walks and no noise, especially at night. If only there were some decent shops. Plus, if she lived in an actually interesting place, perhaps she’d get some experience and inspiration for her career in writing - a pipe dream at this point, she’d decided.

A dream that she’d had for her entire life.

As she turned onto the wooden boardwalk down the beach, she saw a woman standing in the shallow waves, the water gently rushing around her feet. She didn’t seem to move at all, had her hands in her pockets. Apart from Ivy, she was the only one here. She didn’t look like the type to stare wistfully at the sea, a tall, strong-looking woman with short black hair and a sleeveless denim jacket, black leggings and a strange tattoo on her left arm. What was especially strange is that she was a complete stranger, and you don’t tend to see those in Damline, especially at this hour. There might be the odd tourist, but she was just...staring, motionless. Her imagination fired up.

_A strange figure in the distance, a lonely woman staring longingly at the sea, not belonging, full of regret for days gone by. A hopeless soul, at the end of a journey of sadness that left her considering terrible things. A kind person would chance upon them before they took the plunge, offering their company and their time. A friendship struck, a story continued._

Stuff it, she wasn’t doing anything else, she may as well see if something was up. Carefully making her way down the stoney beach, she called after her.

‘Hey, everything okay?’

She didn’t seem to react. Ivy made her way up beside her. Now she was closer, she could see just how tall she was. The stranger turned her head to look, and Ivy saw a sadness in her eyes.

‘Hello.’ Came her reply, followed by a sad smile. Ivy could detect so much emotion in that single word - or perhaps she was just imagining it, she did tend to overthink and romanticise every little thing.

‘Hi. Ivy, Ivy Pierce. Haven’t seen you around before.’

The stranger turned her head back to the sea. ‘Arrived a few minutes ago. Bad day.’

Her voice was deep and firm, almost masculine, and yet she spoke gently and quietly, her voice lined with sadness.

‘You went straight to the beach, huh? Must be pretty bad then, you were just standing staring. Is there anything I can help with? I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.’ Ivy said softly.

‘No. It’s a stupid story anyway.’ The stranger breathed in deep and sighed, taking a hand out of her pocket to run it through her messy pixie cut. ‘I’m The Doctor, by the way. I’d say I was just passing through but it’s not like I have anywhere else to be. I said I arrived here but it’s more like I got booted out here.’

The Doctor? What sort of a name was that? Ivy digged deep into her imagination. 

_An alias. A name chosen to cover something up, perhaps - a woman wishing to remain anonymous, running from a terrible past, or towards a terrible future? Was the name chosen at random or did it mean something to the stranger? Maybe a promise, a promise to help, a heroic name she could exclaim when a defeated villain requests the name of his vanquisher, a powerful name that fills all who hear it with hope._

Or it could simply just be her occupation. She always did get carried away. She blinked and shook her head, returning to reality. ‘Can’t imagine someone like you in a medical setting.’

The Doctor turned to her suddenly. ‘Have you got a mirror? My ship … uh, my home, is currently being, well, stroppy, and I really need to take a look at myself. Not sure why. Maybe I have vanity issues now. Who knows. Mirror?’

Ivy tilted her head, a bit startled as she pulled a makeup mirror out of her handbag, getting lost in her imagination again as she did so.

_A sudden change in attitude, a chaotic personality, one minute sad, the other…_

_A mind in turmoil, used to burying her emotions deep, pretending all is okay as she puts on a brave face, holding her trauma tight inside her._

_She asks for a mirror - a recent change in appearance, or perhaps a symbolic reminder that she has remained the same despite her struggle, despite everything it is still her._

_Hang on...a ship? Yeah, a ship...that fits in well, an adventure on the high seas or perhaps an escape from an island or country. Perhaps an aircraft, a pilot, or a spaceship, an adventuress from beyond the stars…_

The Doctor took the mirror and flipped it open, staring with interest at her face.

‘Not exactly what I was expecting, given the hair.’ She said after a brief moment.

‘You’re the strangest thing I’ve seen in years, you know that?’ Ivy said with a smile.

‘No, what’s really strange is…’ The Doctor tossed the mirror behind her and held up her arm. ‘Where did this tattoo come from? I certainly didn’t get it, and regeneration isn’t supposed to just magically create tattoos. I mean, what’s it even supposed to mean?’

Ivy looked at it closely. It was a six digit number, “983983”. She didn’t bother picking up her makeup mirror, she was already thinking about what this could mean.

_A mysterious tattoo appears overnight, remnant of a yesterday forgotten, the numbers mean nothing obvious, a clue that makes sense when all the puzzle pieces are together. A date, a location, maybe a code to a secret door that unlocks a hidden past. A curse, perhaps, a visible effect of a magical encounter. Maybe it’s a time limit, until death or something else terrible, a race against time to undo the curse before it’s too late._

Or it could just be the result of way too much alcohol.

‘Are you sure you just didn’t have too much to drink?’ Ivy said, picking up her mirror.

‘Positive, I regenerated with it. That’s not supposed to happen. Enough about that though. Stupid thing, suppose it’ll make sense later. In the meantime though…’ She looked behind her, into the distance. ‘I might be here for a while...she doesn't trust me. Not after what I d-'

She paused, holding her hand up, and turned around sharply to stare at the seashore. Ivy followed her gaze, and her eyes met with a strange shape in the water. It looked rather like a head, with two white eyes gazing at them, but it was made of rock, moss and seaweed hanging off it. And it was staring angrily right at them.

‘That wasn’t there before.’ Ivy said, taking a step closer to the odd rocky head jutting out from the water, but was promptly stopped by the Doctor’s outstretched arm. Ivy watched as she took a few steps closer, the Doctor was staring with interest, like she was looking at a puzzle box.

‘Hi, friend!’ The Doctor called out. ‘Hope you come in peace, honestly!’

The head moved closer as whatever strange body it belonged to took a single step towards them.

‘Ivy, safety first, get behind me.’ She whispered quietly, and Ivy did as she was told - she reckoned if this was her first contact with something supernatural, staying near the six and a half foot lady with an avalanche-causing voice would be her best bet right now.

The head rose from the waters, revealing a long neck attached to a huge body, arms as thick as tree trunks. It was monstrous in proportions, several meters tall - and it was coming towards them. With each lumbering stride, water displaced everywhere, and while Ivy backed away, the Doctor held her ground, hands in her pockets, staring up at the great geological beast, her gaze full of awe, yet she held her ground, a stoic figure before a mighty foe.

‘Incredible. It looks entirely made of rock, even the eyes are gemstones. A golem of sorts, if you will.’ Mused the Doctor, to nobody in particular. 

Ivy just stood gaping. Her heart was racing, her mind full with fear and dread. ‘Doctor, what the hell is that and why...why is it here?!’

The Doctor took her hands from her pockets, and in one of her hands she held some kind of long thin device, made of strange metal laced with a black spiral pattern all around it, ending in a strange twisted claw housing a red LED. At the press of a button, the LED lit up and the device made a high pitched buzzing noise, and she pointed it at the advancing giant, moving it up and down.

‘Fascinating. Absolutely magnificent. It’s an artificial construct, Ivy! Like a robot, but made entirely of rock and other minerals.’ The Doctor said with a grin, still standing her ground.

‘You sound a hell of a lot more pleased than you should be, considering that thing is a few steps from crushing you!’

Ivy kept backing away, getting ready to run, but she didn’t want to leave the Doctor there. The crazy woman’s heels were practically dug into the sand.

‘Judging by the state of it, it’s been dormant for years, which means it was activated by us being here. Beach like this would get hundreds of visitors a month, so it’s either designed to only activate if either of us specifically go near it, or…’ She turned suddenly, striding up to Ivy, pointing her artsy gadget at her.

‘That necklace, I noticed it before. Take it off, destroy it.’ Ordered the Doctor.

‘Wh-what? Why in god’s name would that-’

‘Alright, no time to argue, so I’ll do it. Sorry in advance, it is VERY pretty.’

And with that, the Doctor yanked the necklace off, threw it to the ground and stomped on it. There was a crunch, followed instantly by an even bigger crunch as the sea-golem stopped moving, and crumbled to the ground in pieces of mossy rock.

‘I...what?!’ said Ivy incredulously, staring first at the seemingly deactivated golem and then at her smashed necklace. ‘First off, that was a gift from my Gran, and second off, what the f-’

‘It wasn’t the necklace so much as the stone inside, I’d say.’ Interrupted the Doctor. ‘Clearly it’s emitting some kind of signal that activated Mossy over here. Not your fault, I’m sure you didn’t bring that here on purpose. Innocent bystander.’

Ivy crossed her arms and stared at the Doctor. ‘People tell me I have a crazy imagination but what just happened was...well, it was ridiculous. And impossible. You’re impossible.’

The Doctor grinned, clicking her fingers and pointing at Ivy. ‘Twenty-one regenerations and being impossible is the one trait I’ve kept consistent. Well, this has been _Magnifique_. I should be off. Keep up your writing, Ivy, write me a tale of beauty and suspense and I’ll pop into the future and read your bestsellers.’

And with that, she was off with a stride. Ivy wasn’t having that. She followed her - having to almost run to keep up with her.

‘Where are you going? And how did you know I was a writer?’ Ivy asked.

‘Pencil.’ Came the reply. ‘And don’t follow me.’

‘Pencil? What? And why shouldn’t I?’

‘Pencil behind your ear, you forgot to take it out before walking out to the beach after spending an all-nighter trying to write, judging by both the bags under your eyes and the fact that you’re up before everyone else on a Sunday morning. Ivy, if you keep following me, your life will get a whole lot more complicated. Please, go back. Go home.’

Ivy hesitated. By all logic, she should go back - after all, she’d just had a possible near death experience a couple minutes after meeting this woman. She carried an air of danger about her. But she also had experience, she thought; experience and stubbornness, and her expression, while stern, betrayed the inner loneliness and regret. Ivy could tell all the signs - she’d written women like this many times. She took the pencil from her ear, storing it in her pocket.

‘No, I shan’t. I think you’re the most interesting thing that’s happened outside my imagination, like, ever. And I can never resist a mystery. So I’m following you. To...wherever it is you’re going. Oh...where did that come from?’

They had arrived at what looked like an old-fashioned telephone box, a deep blue but with scorch marks cluttering it’s wooden finish. The Doctor tried the door, but it didn’t budge - locked, presumably. Perhaps it wasn’t even real, it wasn’t the first time some random sculpture or object appeared on the boardwalk by the beach. The Doctor seemed pretty bothered by this though.

‘Come on, girl...I saved someone. Is that not enough?’ she mumbled, placing her head against the door gently.

‘Are you...talking to a box?’

The Doctor didn’t reply for an entire minute, but then she wheeled round, clapping her hands together.

‘So, Ivy. You followed me! Magnificent. Inquisitive nature got the best of common sense; you’ll do well, Ivy Pierce. Now, please allow me to follow you home, because as you can see, I’m locked out.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Rough around the edges - haven't written in years, but I've put a LOT of thought into where I'm taking these two characters, and what I'm going to do with this story and the others after it, so stick around <3]  
> [Also, advice is very appreciated. VERY appreciated.]


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UNIT have enlisted the Doctor's help, and the mystery of the strange golems deepens.

The Doctor took a seat on the beanbag in the corner of Ivy’s room. Ivy's parents were out, and even if they weren’t, there weren’t any rules on bringing friends back home. Her mind was racing after her encounter with the sea golem, her imagination firing up again;

_A living statue from under the waves, attacking two seemingly unsuspecting innocent humans, a monster lying in waiting until the perfect victims...but realises it's luck has ran out, for it's victim is in fact the Doctor, immortal space woman from the stars! A brilliant mind versus a terrifying foe, rock versus wit, stone against intelligence. Intelligence wins as the magical woman saves the day, upholding a sacred oath to keep the world safe._

And then her mind turned to the blue box.

_A mysterious shrine to the past, it's doors locked for those it deems unworthy._

The Doctor? Unworthy? She DID just defeat an impossible monster from the sea...that seemed pretty worthy to her.

She stared at the bizarre woman as she fiddled with a Rubik’s cube idly.

‘You know, they had four dimensional versions of these back on Gallifrey.’ The Doctor said, once again solving the cube in under ten seconds.

‘Gallifrey. Is that in Ireland?’ Ivy asked. ‘I wasn’t aware things could exist in four dimensions.’

‘Do I even remotely sound Irish? No, Gallifrey is in space, quite a few million light-years away. And of course they can - it was a three dimensional cube that existed in different states every second, and each second you changed it changed another second, so you went back and forth through the cube’s personal timeline to solve it fully. I learnt how to do it when I was four.’

‘Space. Right. Forgot.’

The Doctor had explained on the way to Ivy’s house that she was a traveller from the stars, and had landed here on Earth. She had experienced something called “Regeneration” which meant she changed her entire body and personality, and her ship, the TARDIS, was somehow angry at her for something she had done - she refused to say what. When Ivy had asked how a spaceship could be angry, the Doctor said something about the TARDIS being sentient - a grown organism, even. It was at this point Ivy decided that she had accidentally been sucked into an insane sci-fi fantasy and went along with it.

‘Doctor, one thing I really don’t understand… that necklace has been in my family for generations, why would it be some kind of...activator thingy for that sea golem?’ Ivy asked.

‘I have no idea, but I’m sure I’ll find out sooner or later. Not knowing is the first step towards knowing, so keep your chin up.’ The Doctor said, tossing the cube away and getting to her feet. She had to duck her head slightly. ‘In fact…’

Suddenly there was a knock on the front door from downstairs. The Doctor clicked her fingers. ‘ _Magnifique._ ’

‘Guess I should answer that, we’re the only ones here.’ Ivy said, hurrying down the stairs and opening the door. She was greeted by a woman in a black suit and collared jacket with blonde hair. She had a serious face on, and Ivy could see men in the distance - some of them looked like soldiers.

‘Good afternoon.’ The woman said, holding her hand out. ‘Kate Stewart.’

‘I-Ivy Pierce’ Ivy said, shaking her hand nervously.

‘Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I’m looking for a man called the Doctor, it’s quite urgent.’

‘That will be my ride!’ The Doctor said, appearing behind Ivy. ‘Kate Stewart, it’s been a while!’

Kate took a step back. The last time she had seen the Doctor, they were a dark haired man of middling height with a top hat and a (sonic) cane. Clearly, UNIT needed to update their records.

‘Good lord, that is certainly a regeneration. How did you manage that?’ Kate said with a bemused smile.

‘This isn’t the first time I’ve been a woman. Once I was a blond haired girl with rainbows and suspenders, then I was a grumpy woman with a sonic that looked like a novelty straw, but you weren’t there for either of those, I think. I take it you want to take us to headquarters and discuss today’s alien death plot?’

‘Right...right, yes, I need both of you to come with me, there’s something I want to show you.’

**. . .**

‘Lovely, I see you’ve got the Tower of London back.’ The Doctor said as she followed Kate into UNIT’s headquarters, a secret base in the Tower of London.

‘Yes, UNIT being liquidated was an absolute nightmare but we’re back on track now, and we’ve found something that we think you’ll be very interested in.’

‘This...this was here in the Tower of London this whole time?’ Ivy whispered to the Doctor.

‘UNIT Headquarters - the first time I was here, the earth was being invaded by small cubes. I wonder what it is this time, they never call me unless it’s urgent.’ The Doctor said. Ivy just looked around her in wonder. She'd written about secret bases before, filled with impossible technology, but she never guessed she would actually be IN one.

_A secret headquarters of a secret service, hidden right under the noses of passers by. Technology far in advance of what would be thought possible. Soldiers and scientists, perhaps they capture aliens, study the un-studyable, protecting the human race from what lurks in the shadows._

It would make sense the Doctor was involved with such an organisation, apparently being an alien herself.

Kate led them into a guarded and lit up room with a huge cage in the centre, surrounded by technical apparatus and information screens that beeped and flashed occasionally. There was a woman in a ponytail, glasses and a rather strange looking scarf studying one of the monitors. Inside the cage was something Ivy recognised - a huge assortment of mossy rocks, connected with crystalline wires, but in pieces, like the sea golem from Damline was after it was deactivated.

The woman in the scarf turned around as they entered.

‘This is Ivy Pierce’ Kate said, motioning to Ivy, and then to the Doctor, ‘and this is the Doctor. Ivy, this is Osgood.’

Osgood looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. ‘Oh my..’ she said.

‘Inhaler!’ Called Kate, and Osgood pulled an inhaler out of her lab coat pocket and used it. The Doctor waved with a smile. ‘Lovely to see you.’

‘Doctor, I assume you recognise this’ Kate said, as Osgood recovered from her mini freak-out, walking up to the cage that housed the deactivated golem. ‘Especially since you seem to have encountered one already.’

‘Yeah, I was kinda hoping there would only be one of them...but yeah. Ivy here activated one that was submerged, by accident of course. It seemed to respond to a stone in her necklace.’ The Doctor explained. ‘A golem, made entirely of rock and crystal. Completely harmless when deactivated obviously.’

‘We dug this one up off the coast of Tenerife, it was already deactivated. Look at those wires..’ Kate pointed, and then turned to the monitor, bringing up information that Ivy couldn’t begin to understand. ‘At first we thought it was just a submerged ancient stone sculpture, crumbled to bits, but then we saw these. They’re obviously some kind of technology, and scans indicate circuit boards carved through the rock, but all attempts to break any part of it have been met with failure.’

Osgood was also beside them, keying things into the pad on the screen. ‘What’s really interesting is that when it’s activated, the statue automatically repairs itself from this state, the wires begin transmitting some kind of energy throughout the golem.’

The Doctor turned to them. ‘You’ve activated it?’

Kate nodded. ‘By accident. It turns out an alien artefact we had nearby was transmitting some sort of...undetectable signal, and the golem activated after a minute of being near it. Thankfully we had taken precautions in case it stirred and locked it in this cage. Solid adamantium bars.’

‘Next you’ll tell me you have bullet vests made of unobtanium.’ Ivy quipped in.

'Show me the artefact that activated it.' The Doctor said, turning around and striding out of the room. 'I assume you have it far away from here.'

'We've moved it to a secure location not too far from here. It seems the minimum proximity for activation is fifty metres. We can take you there.'

**. . .**

The Doctor studied the artefact intently and silently, much to the awkwardness of everyone. The object was mostly made of metal and crystal that twisted around each other, not remotely symmetrical or resembling anything the Doctor had seen before. The technology was definitely alien, she detected crystal wiring inside as she scanned it with her screwdriver, but most of interest was what was inside - a large stone, the exact same kind that was in Ivy's necklace. As for how it worked, the Doctor could only theorize.

'Well?' Kate said after what seemed like five minutes of awkward silence.

'Oh. Oops, I forgot I had to say what I was thinking. Well, it's definitely alien in origin, the crystal wires inside match the ones in the golem.'

'Is that all?' Ivy and Kate said in unison. After studying it for that long, they thought she'd have more to say.

'Oh, right. And there's a stone inside that matches the one in Ivy's necklace, which is what activated the sea golem in Damline Beach. This device is old, though...signs of wear. And Ivy's necklace has been in her family for generations. Whatever this is, whoever put these here, they've been here for a long time, which means the golems have been there for a long time too, just waiting for activation. And if we've already found two, how many more are out there?'

'Surely we would have noticed these before, Doctor. There would be dig sites, archaeological surveys.' Kate said, taking the artefact back from the Doctor.

'Low level perception filter, perhaps? Or maybe just luck. What's important is who left these here, and when?' The Doctor replied.

'You've got the TARDIS, why can't you just pop back and check?'

'It's not letting the Doctor in.' Ivy said. 'I saw, the doors were locked. Also, pop back?'

'Oh, she's not explained to you yet? You two must have just met. Well, I'm honoured to be a part of your first experience with the Doctor, who will tell you all about her ability to travel in time and space after we've figured out why that device is now flashing.' Kate said, as the Doctor pulled out her sonic screwdriver and scanning the now pulsing object.

'Oh hello..it's about to be teleported somewhere...field-based transmat, locking onto the object. Seems like someone's finally come back for their toys. If I just...' The Doctor pushed a button on her device and it made a louder buzzing sound. 'Extend the transmat area to include us too. _Bon voyage_.'

'Wait, what?!' Kate yelled.

'I'm sorry, did you just say she could travel in ti-'

And they were gone with a flash of light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Osgood is still recovering from the shock of seeing the Doctor as a 6 and a half foot goliath of a woman who she now describes as "actually quite hot"


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Ivy Pierce and Kate Stewart are transported to a unique spaceship crewed by a species called the Fangborn.

High up above the planet Earth was a colossal spacecraft. It was sleek, made of shiny metal that glistened in the sun's rays. There was no space for windows - the entire thing was smooth and graceful, almost shaped like a dolphin with a dorsal fin and long tail that ended in a flourish. The nose of the spacecraft was smooth and curved in, almost like the nose of a dolphin - or perhaps a shark. It was within the nose of the ship that the Doctor, Ivy Pierce and Kate Stewart were transported to, a dimly lit room with strips of lines that formed spirals and wave patterns all around the walls and the ceiling. creating beautiful light shows within the room - an effect probably brought about by the room being entirely filled with water.

Ivy began to panic and looked above to see if she could surface - Kate was already swimming around, looking for a door or a switch that would evacuate the water - trying any one of the crystalline switches that littered the stone consoles around the submerged room. She looked to find the Doctor, and saw her swimming in place, her eyes darting around the room. Then she swam like a dart towards a lever in the left side of the room, and a door on the far side of the room opened - a futuristic looking room that split in two and recoiled into the walls. She motioned for Kate to follow her, wrapped her arm tight around Ivy and swam quickly through.

They were in a wide corridor, still completely filled with water, nowhere to surface, no way to draw breath. Ivy had to force herself not to panic, she'd only drown faster. The Doctor put something into her hand - it looked like a plastic mask, kinda like what divers wear sometimes but more advanced. She struggled to put it on, seeing that the Doctor already had one on. She got the mask around her head, lungs screaming for air, and finally took her first breath on an alien spaceship.

'Not something you really except to teleport into, a hi-tech swimming pool. Doctor, what on earth were you thinking?' Said Kate, her voice sounding a bit muffled but somehow coming through fine - the masks must transmit sound as well as aid with breathing, thought Ivy.

'I was thinking lots of things, I can't tell you everything I think or we'd be here all day. Just be thankful I found these masks, must be a species with a love for deep sea diving here.' Came the Doctor's reply. She was already looking around the room, leaning down to pocket a few loose objects, examining equipment with her screwdriver.

'Alright, that's it. That's two times I've almost died today. I love action stories but I honestly never expected that my life would become one.' Ivy said, trying to calm down from the experience of nearly drowning. 'I'm starting to realise why you told me my life would become complicated, this is ridiculous. My clothes are ruined! No, forget my clothes, I _actually_ could have died.'

The Doctor stopped what she was doing and put her arms around Ivy gently. She expected her to say something consoling, but she quickly let go of her again. Her mask obstructed most of her face but Ivy could see her eyes looking downwards.

Kate Stewart left them to it. She didn't expect to end up on an alien spaceship today, least of all one completely flooded, but days with the Doctor were full of the unexpected. This was a very advanced craft, and she had noticed the crystalline mechanisms littering the corridor and the room they teleported in - clearly the same technology that the sea golems were.

'This ship belongs to whatever made the golems, I'm assuming, which makes me wonder where they are, and why they've come back.' She said.

'Probably coming to finish what they started, however long ago that is. I think we ended up in a different part of the ship to where the artefact ended up, couldn't see it there...' The Doctor said, making her way to the door at the end of the corridor. 'A species that lives in water, builds things out of rock and crystal, plants geological constructs at various locations on Earth...'

'If they like water so much, maybe that's why they want the Earth? It's called the blue planet for a reason.' Ivy said, following the Doctor.

'Invading the Earth for a place to live, perhaps...that could be it. Survival is one of the most common reasons to invade a planet...'

'I've contacted Osgood - thank goodness our equipment is mostly waterproof - and she says they haven't detected anything in Earth's orbit

The Doctor tried to open the door manually, giving it a push. Ivy pushed a button next to it and looked at the Doctor amused. '..Right.' Said the Doctor, entering the room, coming to a stop when she noticed the creatures turn from their monitors and consoles to look at her. 'I've found them!' She called down to Kate. 'Ivy, standard procedure, get behind me. I'll protect you.'

Ivy felt a bit like a child being told to hide behind the Doctor, but she did it anyway - The Doctor could stand her ground far better than she could. She looked at the creatures that were watching - they looked almost shark-like, fins on their backs, and the backs of their legs. Grey, shiny skin made of small scales. Their heads were long, their mouths opened in huge, terrifying toothy grins, accented with two long fangs at the front. Two of them were advancing towards the Doctor, they had uniforms on and were carrying guns - security, most likely.

The Doctor put her hands up to show she came unarmed, but this didn't seem to have the desired effect - a laser blast flew right past her head. The Doctor didn't even flinch, stuffing her hand into her pocket, closing her hand around her screwdriver ready to act if necessary - it was amazing how intimidating she could look just while standing completely still, the advancing guards even hesitated a bit before continuing their fire. The Doctor finally saw fit to back into the corridor, albeit slowly - Kate had already taken Ivy and ran back through the corridor, ducking behind a console along the side of the room. She moved her head to the side to dodge a laser blast that came directly for her head, and the moment she was fully back behind the door, she sealed it shut with her screwdriver, moving it up and down to lock it.

'I hope you locked that well. Doctor, what were they? I don't recognise them from any of our files.' Kate said, coming out from behind the console.

'They won't get through that for a while - good security mechanisms in these doors, great for keeping anything out if you set it to.' The Doctor replied. 'Beautiful creatures, though. Water-based bipeds, magnificent. Extremely advanced, using naturally waterproof minerals for their technology instead of metal and plastic.'

'Are we trapped here?' Ivy asked, walking up to the Doctor.

'No. There's always a way out.' The Doctor said, kneeling down to talk to her. 'I _will_ protect you.'

'I don't think I feel protected, Doctor. I think I'm terrified, and I'm on an alien spaceship that you took me to without even asking me and now I'm being shot at and hiding from shark people.'

'She has got a point, Doctor. You've swooped out of nowhere, met this girl and in one day you've put her in danger three separate times.' Kate added.

The Doctor sighed, placing her head in her hands for a moment before getting up to her feet again, her hands in her pockets. 'I'm sorry. The sea golem was accidental but yeah, I did transport us here with no warning. It was the only way I could follow the artefact - extend the transmat area to include me, but that included you two and there wasn't enough time to tell you to get back, and I...I didn't want to come here alone.' She paced up and down the corridor - a difficult task underwater. 'Spent a long time alone in my last life and it made me do something terrible. I like you, Ivy, I want to show you things. Beautiful things. Amazing places. I didn't expect we'd end up, well...here.'

Ivy looked at the Doctor. Part of her wanted to go home, forget any of this happened. Maybe it was worth it, though, to work through the fear and adrenaline to see what she always thought was fiction, to focus on the beauty of it all...she _was_ on an alien spaceship, after all. Ivy Pierce, exploring the impossible. Or she would if she could go anywhere in this place without being shot at.

'Well, you've managed to stop me from getting killed, so I guess I'm cool.' She said, smiling beneath her oxygen mask.

The Doctor clicked her fingers, pointed at Ivy, and then turned on her heels, still pointing, to face the locked door. 'So, I'm going to unlock that door, and when I do, I want Kate to wait until the guards are underneath those pipes on the ceiling and then shoot a big honking hole in 'em with the gun she thinks I haven't noticed and respectfully hasn't used yet, and then I want all three of us to run past them as best as we can given where we are...maybe better to swim, actually.'

'Right.' Said Kate, taking the concealed firearm from her inside pocket and readying it.

The Doctor unlocked the door with the sonic screwdriver and the shark guards ran through, pointing their guns at the three, snarling and showing their teeth in a threatening grin.

'NOW!' Yelled the Doctor, and Kate shot holes in the three pipes that ran across the ceiling of the corridor, releasing a powerful gas into the water directly onto the armed guards, allowing the Doctor to hit their hands to make them drop their guns - she kicked them to the side and then grabbed Ivy and swam after Kate who had already gone ahead. When she was through, she locked the door behind them. 'Not as good as a deadlock seal but it'll take a while for them to get back.'

The Doctor clicked her fingers and pointed with both hands at the distinctly more laboratory-looking shark people who were looking at her fearfully. 'Scientists! Always the more reasonable and rational types, wouldn't you agree, Kate?' She said cheerfully, stuffing her hands back into her pockets. 'Right then. Who are you, what are you, what are you doing with this planet and who do I talk to to get you to stop whatever it is you may be doing?'

'We are the Fangborn.' Came a voice, not from any of the scientists but from a large figure who'd just entered from a door to the left. 'And your world is already ours, land-lurker.'

The figure who spoke was larger than any of the other shark people, wearing a long cape that flowed and floated in the water and a strange kind of jacket that had way too many pockets. He had a tail too, unlike any of the others, long with fins and a dorsal fin at the end. It lashed with anger as he approached the three. 'You've infiltrated my space tank, and you'll tell me who you are before I vaporise you into atoms.'

'This is a tank?' Ivy asked.

'I think he means tank as in a water-tank.' Kate said in a hushed voice to Ivy.

The Doctor stood, hands in her pockets, staring at the tailed Fangborn as he walked right up to her, pressing a long barrelled futuristic looking gun to her chest. He was almost as tall as she was.

Ivy waited for the Doctor's response. What would this impossible woman do, the woman who could defeat rock monsters and build magical gadgets that could seal doors and affect teleports?

The Doctor shrugged.

'I've...I've got a gun pointed at your heart, land-lurker, and you're _shrugging_ at me. Do you not know what this does?'

'It's my response to your question. Who I am. I don't know.'

'Don't play games with me. The conquest of your planet is nigh and I am not wasting time on this. Who are you, and why are you interfering?'

The Doctor smiled. 'I have a better question you could ask me. Ask me _what_ I am.'

The large bipedal shark sighed. 'Fine. _What_ are you?'

The Doctor took a step forward, pushing the gun pressed against her chest back and forcing the large Fangborn to take a step back. 'I am the woman who's going to protect this planet and everyone on it. Every single one. Not a single creature on the Earth will die tonight and if you have anything to say about that, anything at all, then look me in the eyes and say your prayers.'

And with that, the Doctor made her move, grabbing the Fangborn's gun and twisting it upwards, just as he fired, the laser blast melting the inside of the gun as it backfired. Then she grabbed a shiny disk out of his top left pocket, got her screwdriver out of hers, jumping back as the Fangborn tried to swipe for her, using the screwdriver to do something to the disk as she kept out of reach. It was then that the guards she'd locked in the corridor before finally managed to get through, but the Doctor had already activated the disk, there was a flash, and the Doctor, Kate and Ivy vanished.

Fresh air. Ivy tore her mask from her face and threw it on the ground, taking a deep breath. It felt weird to go from being underwater to not, she took a while to get her balance right. 'Oh thank god...' she breathed. 'Thank god thank god thank god'

The Doctor ruffled her hair with her hands to try and dry it, and then shook herself like a dog, much to the absolute disgust of everyone that was around her. Then she froze. Ivy followed her gaze and gasped. There on the floor, breathing ruggedly, was a Fangborn guard. He was still holding his gun, and only managed to get one shot off that missed completely.

'Get that gun away from him and get him into the water. I think we've got a swimming pool we can lock down.' Kate ordered two personnel who kicked the Fangborn's gun away and grabbed him, carrying him away. 'Doctor, how did it follow us?'

'He, Kate. How did _he_ follow us. And do NOT hurt him. I only had enough time for an area based transmat, he was the closest one. They really ought to develop more accurate beaming technology..' The Doctor said.

'Well, now we can question one, find out what they want with our planet and what their plan is.'

'That was an alien.' Ivy said, standing next to the Doctor and looking up at her.

'Yup.'

'And that was an alien spaceship.'

'Yea-huh. Cool, right?'

'Terrifying. But...yes.'

The Doctor grinned down at her. 'This is only the start. There's a big alien spaceship up there filled with alien sharks that want to take over our world with robots made of rock. Rockbots. And we get to save the world, Ivy. _Magnifique._ '


End file.
